Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Lizzie Johnson...Texas Cattle Queen

Lizzie Johnson Williams was a pioneer women of the
old west..a "pioneer" in every sense of the word. She was smart;
hardworking, a businesswoman and she loved the finer things!! And she was the
first and only woman in Texas history to accompany her own herd of Texas
longhorns up the Chisolm Trail.

Elizabeth E. Johnson was born in Missouri in 1843.
Lizzie moved to Hays County, Texas where her father started the Johnson
Institute in 1852. At sixteen she started to teacher at her fathers school. She
moved to teach at other schools in Texas all the while saving her money. She
was smart with her money and invested it in stocks. She purchased $2,500 worth
of stock in the Evans, Snider, Bewell Cattle Co. of Chicago. She earned 100
percent dividends for three years straight and then sold her stock for
$20,000.!!

On June 1, 1871, Lizzie invested her money in
cattle and registered her own brand (CY) in the Travis County brand book along
with her mark. She was an official cattle woman.

In the summer of 1879, at the age of thirty-six,
she married Hezkiah G Williams. Hezkiah was a preacher and widower who had
several children. After her marriage, Lizzie continued to teach and invest in
cattle. Lizzie was a smart businesswoman, even after her marriage she continued
to maintain control over her wealth and cattle business. A progressive thinker,
she had her husband sign a paper agreeing that all of her property remained
hers.

Hezkiah did not have the same "head" for
business that his wife possessed. In 1881, on his own, he entered into the
cattle business. Along with poor business skills, Hezkiah also liked to drink.
Lizzie had to constantly help her husband out of financial trouble.

Lizzie and Hezkiah traveled up the Chisholm Trail
to Kansas at least twice. They rode behind the herd in a buggy drawn by a team
of horses. For several years she and her husband, after coming up the Chisholm
Trail, spent the fall and winter months in St. Louis, where Lizzie made extra
money by keeping books for other cattlemen. While in St. Louis, she also liked
to "treat" herself to some finer things, like current dress fashions,
fine clothes and jewels.

Chisholm Trail

During the Civil War, Lizzie was able to grow her cattle
herd by overseeing a process called "brushpopping". Since so many men
were away at war and there were few fences to keep the cattle contained, the
numbers of "unbranded" cattle in the brush of South Texas began to
grow. At that time "unbranded" cattle were fair game- you found them
- you kept them. Lizzie had her cowboys comb the thickets for cattle
-"brushpopping" round them up and transport them to her growing
ranch.

Hezkiah passed away in 1914 in El Paso. It is
rumored that Lizzie purchased a $600 top-of-the-line coffin for her husband.
When she signed the bill of payment, she wrote across it "I loved this old
buzzard this much."

Lizzie eventually became somewhat of a recluse. She
lived meagerly, wearing frugal dresses and just living on a diet of soup and
crackers. On October 9, 1924 Lizzie Johnson Williams passed away at the age of
81. Her estate totaled $250,000. Family members found thousands of dollars in
diamonds locked away in her basement and she had large holdings in Austin real
estate.

Lizzie was a true "pioneer" of her time
and a great inspiration to women of the old west..and today!

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